BJP to fight Mizoram assembly elections alone: Ram Madhav

Aizawl, Oct 4: The Bharatiya Janata Party would fight all the 40 assembly seats in Mizoram alone, but the party might forge an alliance with like-minded parties in a post-poll scenario, general secretary Ram Madhav said on Wednesday.

Mizoram is the only state under the Congress in the Northeast at present. The saffron party has been making concerted efforts to win the state, after having formed governments on its own or joining hands with allies in all other Northeastern states.

Addressing a press conference here, Madhav, who is in charge of the Northeast, said the BJP would field candidates in all the 40 assembly seats in the state, where elections are due in December.

In the 2013 assembly poll, the Congress had won 34 seats and made Lal Thanhawala the chief minister, while the BJP has no MLA at present.

On the Opposition calling the Mizo National Front (MNF) "proxy" of the BJP, the general secretary termed it "ridiculous".The party would contest against the MNF and the National People's Party in the polls, though they are constituents of North-East Democratic Alliance (NEDA), Madhav said.

Madhav asserted that the BJP "respected" the food habits, distinct cultural and customs of the Mizos and their religion.

He accused the ruling Congress, headed by Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla -- in power for 10 years -- of being corrupt and inefficient.

PTI